Russia urges OSCE to put pressure on Ukraine

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday urged the OSCE to put pressure on Ukraine to implement a roadmap for de-escalating the violence drawn up by the pan-European security body.

"Ukrainian leaders absolutely refuse to implement the (de-escalation) roadmap and we call all countries members of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe to put pressure on Ukrainian leaders," Lavrov told reporters in the Serbian capital.

The OSCE drew up the plan to help bring the pro-Western Kiev authorities and pro-Moscow militants in the southeast to the negotiating table, but no progress has been made in several rounds of dialogue that excluded the armed separatists in the east.

According to the Vienna-based OSCE, the roadmap "shows a pragmatic way forward to moving from the logic of escalation to the logic of cooperation and enhancing stability on the ground."

On Tuesday, Lavrov's Serbian counterpart Ivica Dacic pledged that his country, which is to take over the OSCE presidency in 2015, would "deploy all efforts to find a solution to the Ukrainian crisis through dialogue."

Since the crisis broke out in November, Serbia, aspiring to join the European Union, has been walking a thin line between respect for its obligations toward Brussels and maintaining good ties with Moscow, its traditional ally.

Belgrade wishes to maintain a "neutral" position regarding the Ukrainian crisis and notably avoid imposing sanctions against Russia as the EU and the United States have done.

Last year, the two countries signed an agreement for an $800-million (591-million-euro) loan for reconstruction of the former Yugoslav republic's railways. In April, Russia granted Serbia another $500-million loan to help it deal with its huge budget gap.

Lavrov, who arrived for a two-day visit to Serbia on Monday, was also to meet Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and President Tomislav Nikolic.